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Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

The Best Way to Use Marriott Points Can Unlock $850+ in Savings or 10+ Free Nights From a Single Bonus

May 21, 2019
by
Joseph Hostetler Joseph Hostetler

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Joseph HostetlerMillion Mile Secrets Team

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Here’s our full Advertising Policy.

INSIDER SECRET: When you transfer Marriott points to airlines in increments of 60,000 points, you’ll get a 15,000-point bonus added to your transfer. That’s huge!

I’m going to let you in on the best ways to use Marriott points. This is NOT a post detailing all the different ways you can use Marriott points (if you want to know every option, check out how to use Marriott points). That said, if you don’t use your points in these two ways, you may be better off with another point system.

The courtyard of the Marriott hotel in Cusco, Peru, which is a restored 16th-century convent. (Photo by Joseph Hostetler/Million Mile Secrets)

Just remember, the golden rule is do the math. Many 5-star hotels have rates that vary dramatically from season to season. For example, the St. Regis Deer Valley (a popular ski resort) charges as little as $350 in the fall. But once the ski season begins, you’ll have a hard time finding a rate under $1,600.

Award nights at this hotel cost a lot at 85,000 points per night, so you get much better value for your points if you use them during ski season.

Always check the cash price of a hotel before you choose to burn a ton of points, and read this post to better understand Marriott points value.

Practical Hotel Stays

For example, I stayed at a TownePlace Suites just west of Chicago for only 7,500 points per night. The room easily sells for over $90, so I received a solid value of 1.2 cents per point ($90/7,500 points).

What a perfectly adequate room — for just 7,500 Marriott points per night. (Photo by Joseph Hostetler/Million Mile Secrets)

Remember, if you were to open the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, you’d receive a welcome bonus of 75,000 Marriott points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening your account. You could stay at a cheap hotel like this for at least 10 nights, which could easily save you over $850!

5th Hotel Night Free

Marriott gives you an incentive to burn your points at their hotels: When you book five consecutive nights with points, you’ll get the 5th night for free.

And here’s how much it costs to book the same hotel for 5 nights, with the fifth night free:

This feature is especially handy if you’re staying at a high-rent hotel, like a Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis which can cost 85,000 points per night. (I used this 5th night free perk to save 60,000 points on my upcoming trip to the St. Regis Maldives!)

That means if you transfer 3,000 Marriott points to popular carriers like American Airlines, Southwest or Alaska Airlines, you’ll receive 1,000 miles. This is a great deal, as Marriott points are generally WAY easier to earn than airline miles.

There’s a secret bonus you can earn to make the transfer ratio even better. When you convert your Marriott points in increments of 60,000, you’ll end up with 25,000 miles instead of 20,000 miles, because Marriott will automatically send a bonus 15,000 points to the airline, giving you 5,000 extra miles!

These bonus miles make the ratio 2.4:1 instead of 3:1, which is a significant improvement.

If you’re going to transfer Marriott points to airlines, it’s clearly best to transfer them in increments of 60,000.

N/A

18.24% - 25.24% Variable

$95

Yes

Rates & Fees

Other

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)